Thursday, March 29, 2007

Powering up

In advance of House of Councillors election in July one is likely to see multiple references to the House of Councillors as the "less important" of the two Houses of the Diet.

I would take care not to fall into that trap.

Constitutionally, yes, the House of Representatives can pretty much override any delaying action the House of Councillors may toss out.

However, the staggering numerical advantage held by the ruling coalition in the House of Representatives has made the lower house the less politcally effervescent on this year. So dominant is ruling coalition in the lower house that the only way the opposition parties have managed to attract notice has been by not show up to their question times.

Interpellations in the much more balanced House of Councillors have, at times, even been fun. It was in the upper house that Ogawa Toshio painted the grandiloquently corrupt Matsuoka Toshikatsu into a corner over his utility bills. It was in upper house budget deliberations that Communist Party bulldog Yoshikawa Haruko kept harassing the PM until, in exasperation, he expressed heretofore unimagined sympathies for the suffering of the comfort women.

Moreover, for the minor parties, which of late have been punching above their weights in terms of putting the Cabinet to task, the seats in the House of Councillors are their last refuges.

Notice:

Fukushima Mizuhohead of the Social Democratic PartyHouse of Councillors at large seat

Mataichi Seijisecretary-general of the Social Democratic PartyHouse of Councillors at large seat (up for election)

Ichita Tadashiparty secretary of the Communist PartyHouse of Councillors at large seat (up for election)

Yoshikawa Harukoscourge of the PMHouse of Councillors at large seat (up for election)

Koike AkiraWide show resident Communist andthorn in the government's sideHouse of Councillors at large seat (up for election)

With the Democratic Party in disarray and the every single committee in the House of Representatives under overwhelming LDP/ Komeito control, the "less important" of the two houses is where accountability and, dare we say it, democracy survives.